Upper Perk's Holly Graber looks to get a shot off as a pair of Palisades defenders reach to block her attempt in Saturday night's championship game of the Quakertown girls' tournament.

Upper Perk girls basketball showed off their skills this past weekend in Quakertown High School’s annual holiday tournament, fighting to the end in the championship game Saturday night against Palisades. The effort ended in a 51-43 loss for the Indians.

After a sound 49-31 win over Quakertown Friday night in the opening game, the girls moved on to the championship game against Palisades.

In the first quarter, Upper Perk’s Holly Graber scored six points, Jess Spano scored four points, and Aubrey Gibbs scored two, giving Upper Perk a 12-10 lead against Palisades. The girls continued strong into the second quarter, adding 15 points to the score to bring the tally to 27-22 at the half.

Palisades returned unexpectedly strong after intermission, tying the game up with two minutes left in the quarter, then going on to score 13 points to Upper Perk’s six, bringing the game total to 33-35 in favor of Palisades, fueling the Tribe with the determination to work their hardest during the final stretch of the game.

The score was back and forth during the last quarter of the game, with Graber scoring a two-pointer to bring the game to a tie in the middle. Then UP's Morgan Aldinger, game-high of 14, was knocked to the ground, allowing her to score two on a pair of foul shots before heading to the sidelines to tape her injured wrist.

“I was thinking about helping the team get the win,” said Graber, who led the team with 16 points, about her mentality during the game. “Our coaches stress that we keep shooting and always hustle in practices, which is what we focus on during the game.”

Upper Perk, who is currently 2-1, hopes to continue to improve, although Saturday’s game was well-played and showcased the progress that the team has already made this season.

“We played a very good game, and came out aggressively,” said Pete Sovia, who is in his sixth year as the girls' head coach. “The girls hustled very well, we just didn’t win the game. But I am very proud of the entire team.”

“The girls work on their individual skills [which include dribbling, shooting, rebounding, and passing], said Sovia. "We also stimulate offensive and defensive game conditions.”

Upper Perk enters the rest of the season with high hopes that their hard work will pay off, the team memebers said.

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